June 23 Days 29
Cape Vincent NY - Clayton Municipal Harbor Marina, Clayton NY

• Start 9:00
• End 10:00
• Underway 1:53
• Distance 14
• Weather 72 Partly Sunny wind 2KN West
• Locks 0
• Total Locks 36
• Total Miles on Trip 640
• Avg Speed 7.5

It was a very short ride from Cape Vincent to Clayton NY, but each village along the St Lawrence Seaway is very different and has something unique to offer. While Cape Vincent is a very quiet town with little going on, Clayton is a bustling little town with shops and restaurants lining the main street.

During our last stop in Clayton, we stayed on the western edge of town, at the Town Dock. This time I made reservations at the eastern end of town at the Village Dock. It is less than a ½ mile walk between the two, and I had no idea they were two different municipalities. Both docks are fairly new, but the Village Docks have more slips and I found out they are cheaper. The Town Docks are right next to the Antique Boat Museum, but having visited them last time we did not need to go again.

Arriving at the we found Better Together and Still The One were already there. Most of the docks we have been staying at have been long piers and you dock parallel to the dock. Clayton has slips that you back into with finger piers alongside your boat. With no wind or current it was still very easy to back into the slip.

After settling in Angel & I took the bikes down to explore town. Our first stop was the town park, where we were surprised to find a farmers market. Most of the farmers markets we find are on the weekends, and it was Thursday. After the Farmers Market we rode our bikes around town. We quickly figured out we should not have bothered to take the bikes down, the town was small enough not to need them. We ended up locking the bikes up while we walked around main street.

Clayton has a Riverwalk, that runs the entire length of town. It is neat to see a town where everyone has access to the river. One of the coolest or craziest (depending on your point of view) things to see is kids just jumping in the river everywhere. Along the town the river edge is a bulkhead, with ladders. People lay on the bulkhead tanning, while others jump off and go swimming. No lifeguards, no signs say no swimming. Just kids having fun, I think it is great!

The towns along the St Lawrence are also great with coming up with things to attract visitors. AT the main pavilion the village was setting up for an "Air Dog" event for the weekend. Air Dogs are dogs that are trained to run down a 40' runway into a 40' long pool. It is a competition to see which dog can jump the furthest. There are different categories based on experience, or if they jump from a running start or standing still. Some of the dogs jump over 30 feet.

Thursday Night we came back to the pavilion for a concert in the park. The band was not the greatest but it was something to do. Is also turned out to be the highlight of our stop. The Clayton Fire Department sponsor's the concerts as a fund raiser. The fire boat was playing around in front of the band and pulled up to the bulkhead. As we were checking out the boat, they invited us aboard. Not only did we get a tour, they took us out for a quick ride. Small town America at its best.

After watching another gorgeous sunset, we called it a night. On Friday we head to Alexandria Bay.